Quarkxpress 8 for mac/win with int Designer Xpert Tools Review

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(More customer reviews)I've been using Quark XPress for 15 years and I wouldn't have a successful graphic design business without it.
These days, designers have a big choice to make between Quark and InDesign. Although I am certainly an Adobe fan and I use Photoshop and Illustrator extensively, Quark will always be my choice for page layout and publication design.
I have used InDesign for short periods of time and it is a great program. I found that most of the features I use in Quark are there if you look for them.
However Quark has been the industry leader in page layout for so many years. It is a very powerful program and worth the price. Quark has better abilities to manage larger and more complex documents than InDesign.
Quark is a program that can be used very simply (for a one page flyer) or for a 500 or more page document. Quark's strength is in its ability to manage document layout. The use of master pages and style sheets is critical to consistency and efficiency in managing a document. The search and replace features are invaluable if used properly. I did a directory job in 1/4 of the time of another designer by using something called Xpress tags and the search and replace feature that allows you to replace text with a style sheet.
I know that InDesign is touted for its ability to work with native Illustrator files and Photoshop PSD files. Quark 8 also allows for a ton of integration from a variety of other programs including drag and drop of native Illustrator, Photoshop, and Flash files.
Quark has a great website listing all the integration possibilities (and compares them to InDesign) [...] Obviously it will slant to Quark's advantage since it is their promotional materials.
Quark allows you to create for print or web and has anchors and hyperlinks.
For me, Quark is a typesetter's program since its ability to control type, kerning, tracking, scaling, etc. is very precise.
I also like the ease and variety of tools and the ability to do mathematical equations in the measurements box when positioning objects/items. In other words,if you want to but a tab at 1.25 and your next one exactly .375 from there, you can go to the position box where 1.25 is listed and just put: +.375 and Quark calculates it for you.
I really like the ability to set runarounds and clipping paths to objects thereby wrapping text around objects with a lot of control.
Quark occasionally has issues when working in tables (crashing) but there seems to be a fix listed online. There use to be issues with the drop shadows that Quark creates but I think that has been resolved as well.
I use Quark for Windows and have no issues using it on this platform.
Even after 15 years of use, there are many features I haven't learned to use yet. Not knowing these features does not stop me from using the program effectively, it just proves that Quark is very powerful and diverse.
If you are a MAC user or and InDesign fan, please don't write comments about how much better they are. I'm not trying to say that they are not good. It is just my opinion that I prefer to stay with Quark than to switch to InDesign.


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Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Standard Review

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(More customer reviews)Having purchased and been very happy with Acrobat 4-6 standard editions, I am sorry to say Version 7 is real step backwards for Adobe:
-- The program will not read many pdf documents Acrobat 4-6 will (this may some sort of font copyright problem or just a flaw in this version of the software).
-- The Activation process is tedious, difficult and prevents you from using your own software, even if you only install it on one machine.
Having purchased this software almost a year ago, I uninstalled it because it did not read files Acrobat 6 does, as mentioned above. I thought this might be a bug in the program which Adobe would fix. So I installed and uninstalled it several times, each time the program would not work. Now the program tells me I have activated it too many times, though I have no working copy of the program. The software tells me to call Adobe customer support, but after keeping me in a computer loop for 10 minutes I learn the "call center" is closed, or there is simply no answer after 50 minutes.
If I could return this software I would. It does not work. I can't return my copy, but you don't have to buy a copy. Stick with 6.0 or the cheaper Scansoft program. Acrobat 7.0 does not work, and after a time Adobe won't let you use, even if you buy it, full price.

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Quarkxpress 8 Upgrade for mac/win with int Designer Xpert Tools Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've been using QuarkXPress since 1994 and I would not be able to do a good job as a graphic designer without it. It is part of my layout arsenal including Illustrator and Photoshop.
I know that InDesign is also a great program but since I started with Quark, I'm staying with Quark as long as they continue to deliver a great piece of software.
The truth is, I looked into getting an Adobe Suite but Adobe did not make it easy or inexpensive to do so. I own 5 other Adobe products that are already included in the suites but I would have had to pay full price (minus $100) to buy a suite. $100 was the only break Adobe would give me as a loyal customer. So for a minimum of $1300 I could buy the basic suite. It just wasn't worth it since the only thing I didn't have was InDesign.
So, getting back to Quark 8.0 upgrade. I upgraded from Quark 7 because I purchased a new computer running Windows 7 64 bit. I wasn't sure if Quark 7 would be compatible but I decided it was just easier to upgrade and be done with it. I've had no problems running on 64 bit Windows 7.
There are some great new features (that really should have been part of the program to begin with).
1.) When you import a picture into a picture box and that picture is larger than the picture box, you can see the rest of the picture faded back (when you unselect the picture box, it goes away). This really helps in positioning a picture. Additionally, you can rotate and scale by grabbing picture corners.
2.) The tools/measurements have more options. For example, the measurements box now gives shortcut access to just about anything like alignments, tabs, runarounds, drop shadows, etc.
3.) Font choices in the measurements box actually displays a sample of the font.
4.) You can create a plain box. Not a picture box, not a text box, just a box to be used for fill or whatever. That box can later be defined as either text or picture.
5.) The object alignment options are now the same as Illustrator, flush left, flush right, center, flush top, flush bottom, distribute evenly both horizontally or vertically, etc. and are easy to get to in the measurement box.
6.) You can import native Illustrator (.ai) and Photoshop (.PSD) files although I try not to do this since I eventually go back to make them flattened files before publishing.
7.) It is much easier to edit shapes with the expanded Bezier tool options.
8.) Just about every tool has been enhanced with more options or more common options and shortcuts from other programs.
There are really too many changes to keep listing but Quark's website has a lot of detail as well. I'll try to come back and update as I come across new things or crash issues.
I have had just a couple of crashes in the two months I've been using it. They seemed to be related to text reflow and table editing -- two things that I had trouble with in previous Quark versions.
Other than that, I have had no trouble in setting up new projects, editing previous versions, exporting for print or navigable PDF's for online posting.
The thing that keeps Quark as an industry leader in publishing is the ability to manipulate type so precisely. That and the detail and flexibility in style sheets, master pages and 'find and replace' options.
I really think that Quark has taken a good product and brought it well up to speed with competitors in the industry. It is worth every penny to upgrade.

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